British business could face forking out billions of pounds extra each year under EU moves to treble maternity pay. A European Parliament committee has passed a plan to make firms pay new mothers their full salary for at least 20 weeks.

It would effectively treble statutory maternity pay in the UK, which currently provides women with six weeks at 90% of salary, followed by a longer period on a basic £123 a week.

Aside from the financial costs to business, the EU plans could also have a huge impact on recruitment - with more interims needed as women take longer off work and small businesses in particular increasingly reluctant (legally or not) to take on women who plan to have a family.

Trusted by

Blogs & Social

Snow Day - How Did Your Company React?

The atrocious weather has hit headlines
recently and whether you’re slowly defrosting or still suffering the aftermath
of ‘The Beast from the East’ you may have been wondering the best way to deal
with life as either an employee, or an employer. So how do companies deal with bad weather? If
you’re Tesco you reward your depot workers in Scotland, who have just braved
...

How to Become a Design Engineer

If you have great technical knowledge and design skills, a
career as a design engineer may be the perfect choice for you. In this role,
you’ll play a key part in the development of projects and products: from
building and software, to mobile phones and vehicles.Alongside this, you’ll likely be responsible for putting
ideas into action, testing prototypes, modifying designs and p...